“It is always true that the main item in an investment in a historic property before reconstruction is not the purchase price, but the amount for the reconstruction. Historical preservation requires specific procedures and building materials,” broker Lenka Munter from the Luxent office told Fairpress.
She and her colleagues from other offices notice that the demand for buying historic properties is growing. Not only Czech but also foreign interested parties are active on the market. “But it’s still not a mass segment,” specified Radomír Kočí, a real estate broker from the RE/MAX Search office.
New opportunities are also appearing on the market. In addition to castles, the offer also includes castles, parsonages, fortresses or churches. Their prices vary considerably. In the case of buildings offered through the largest advertising website in the Czech Republic, Sreality.cz, they range in the order of tens of millions of crowns. The specific amount always depends on the condition of the given object.
Broker Munter, for example, describes that dilapidated historical properties before reconstruction are sold for prices of around ten to twenty million. When they are renovated, prices can reach hundreds of millions of crowns. In the case of smaller rural buildings, on the other hand, buyers can reach units of millions.
Reconstructed locks will cost more
The value of historic real estate has been stable over the past few years. Brokers expect that due to the rising costs of construction work, the price of reconstructed buildings will gradually increase. In the case of historic villas, houses and palaces in the center of large cities, the price development largely copies the price growth of ordinary real estate.
“A certain reduction in price can be observed for buildings before complete reconstruction, primarily due to the ever-higher costs of reconstruction,” stated Lucie Soukupová, managing director of Chateau.cz.
Repairs to buildings in worse condition can be more expensive for buyers. With the more expensive construction works, the prices of reconstruction climb to tens of millions. In addition, those interested must be prepared to comply with the requirements of preservationists and consult their steps with experts in historical architecture.
In some cases, discounts can be negotiated with the seller. Munter adds that this does not only apply to objects in poor condition. There are cases when owners have to make concessions even for real estate that has already undergone costly reconstruction. Especially with more expensive locks, if the buyer is not satisfied with the current appearance, he wants to consider any modifications in the price. In such moments, however, the discount is rather moderate.
Traditionally, the strongest interest is in objects in Prague, for example the aforementioned historical villas, or in the surroundings of the capital. It also attracts Brno, possibly tourist attractive areas, for example southern Bohemia, central Bohemia or parts of northern Bohemia.
“Not only the historical value itself plays a role, but also the potential for commercial use and the availability of infrastructure,” concluded Kočí.
